The End of the World

It's a Hard Life in the Far South

Backgrounds

You can select any one benefit from the following background options ( e.g. option 1 / option 2 / option 3) when creating your character.

Apostate: Backslid, lapsed – whatever you call it, you’ve lost your faith and left the fold. Maybe you even left friends and family behind. On the other hand, you still speak the language, and can argue doctrine with the best of them. +2 Religion / Religion as a class skill / +5 to Bluff or Diplomacy checks in religious settings

Black Sheep: (Dragonborn, Halfling, Tiefling) You’ve gotten into more than your fair share of legal trouble, and are adept at talking others into aiding and abetting, all of which deeply embarrasses your family. +5 to Thievery when breaking & entering / +5 to Diplomacy checks when talking someone into doing something / Have a family member who bails you out (DM’s discretion)

Civilized Savage: (Elf, Eladrin, Drow) You’ve spent enough time around non-forest dwellers that you can mostly resist the urge to hunt and skin them. +2 Diplomacy / Diplomacy as class skill / +5 to Bluff checks made to feign knowledge

Death from Above: (Elf, Eladrin, Shifter) You’re at home stalking your prey branch to branch or rooftop to rooftop. +2 Acrobatics / Acrobatics as a class skill / +5 to Stealth checks vs creatures who are below you

Eyes and Ears: (Any race) You’re an agent for a higher-up with a hidden agenda in your family, company, cabal, or other organization. +2 Bluff / Bluff as a class skill / Secret Language known only to you and your handler

Field Researcher: (Dragonborn) You prefer a hands-on approach to recovering the past and have developed a keen eye for ruins. +2 Dungeoneering / Dungeoneering as a class skill / +5 to Perception checks to notice signs of civilization

Former Sex Worker: (Half-Elf, Half-Orc, Human, Shadar-kai, Shifter) Where there’s company towns, there’s the oldest profession in the world. You did what you had to do to survive, and now it’s given you a leg up, so to speak. +1 to saving throws vs disease / +5 to Streetwise checks for favors (free meals, places to hide, etc) / +5 to Intimidate checks to blackmail or influence former clients

Hard Man: (Tiefling) You’re the one they send in to scare labor organizers and break kneecaps. You’ve gotten pretty good at it. +2 Intimidate / Intimidate as a class skill / Maces or Clubs wielded by you gain the Brutal 1 property

Liberated: (Human, Warforged) You’ve been freed from your indenturement contract or given your emancipation papers by a mysterious patron. But why? And what strings are attached? +1 to saving throw vs the immobilized, restrained or slowed conditions / +2 Insight / Insight as class skill

Mouths to Feed: (Half-Elf, Half-Orc, Human, Shifter) You work tirelessly to support your family, and they try to support you too. Endurance a class skill / Aid Another checks you make or made to aid you are +3 instead of +2 / Receive an occasional surprise “care package” from your family (DM’s discretion)

Paying Your Dues: (Dwarf, Gnome, Halfling) You’ve accepted that you’ve got to take the shit jobs in order to get any higher in your company, family, or cabal. +2 Endurance / Endurance as a class skill / +5 to Diplomacy checks in making requests to your organization

Plagued with Visions: (Eladrin) When you rest each night, your trance-state is troubled with dreamlike glimpses of the bright, wild world-that-was descending into darkness and beset by horrors. +1 to saving throws vs fear / +2 Endurance / +5 to Arcana checks to identify horrific creatures

Won Your Freedom in the Pits: (Warforged) You prevailed against every foe they threw at you, making your owner wealthy in the process and earning your emancipation papers. You’re a construct of renown. +5 to social skills interactions with other Warforged / +2 Athletics / +2 Intimidate